i read. i write. i think. i link.

I’m glad to know I’m not the only person serving this picture a bit of side eye. This image is meant to elicit a certain type of emotion and to encourage docile behavior.

There are those who are sharing this photo and reporting on this photo and others like it for the purposes of promoting the sort of “Can’t we all just get along” rhetorical idealism that derails many necessary social movements. That officer hugging that black child may evoke emotions, but it shouldn’t resonate deeper into our national consciousness than that video of an officer gunning down a different black child — Tamir Rice, a 12-year old in Cleveland who was murdered by cops last week after they were called to the scene by witnesses who saw him playing with a toy gun. If that picture moved you more than that video, I have to believe you are more interested in “peace” than justice. And that is unacceptable in times such as these.

2 Comments

Both moved be quite a bit and I wonder if you can talk a little bit more about peace versus justice so I understand how you’re defining them. When I saw the video of Rice killed, I was angry, heartbroken over what looks like injustice. When I saw the photo of Hart and Barnum, I was hopeful, heart-filled over what looks like a step overcoming injustice by literally coming together. For me, it was hope, not peace. Please help me understand where you’re coming from.